Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences BRIGHT, JOHN (1811-89), English politician. He was, with Richard Cobden, leader of the Anti-Corn Law League and the chief represen- tative of the politically emerging manufacturing class. Bright had little formal schooling and entered his father’s cotton manufacturing busi- ness at the age of fifteen. His interest in public questions grew out of his business experience. He became an important member of the Man- chester school of economists and rose to great eminence as an orator in Parliament and on the public platform in the interests of the liberal reforms of his age. John Bright’s chief work was as headmaster of Cobden's “peripatetic political university,” which aimed to align the force of public opinion behind the middle class demand for the repeal of the Corn Laws. lis speeches hearing on this issue, commonly phrased in terms of ideal justice, appealed emotionally to various class and social interests. Bright himsclf saw the Anti-Corn Law movement as one of “the com- mercial and industrial classes against the lords and great proprietors of the soil,” and as such it has come down in history. Bright also supported the movement against land monopoly that was taking form in the same social situation. He argued that the land laws of England and Ireland were expressly designed to make the land a monopoly in the hands of the few and to maintain the prestige of the governing aristocracy. As late as 1870 he still blamed the landlords for the greater part of pauperism, Bright argued here, as his funda- mental economic beliefs caused him to argue in other situations, for such a change in the law as would “bring the truths of political economy and the law of justice within reach of all.” Specifically he urged the abolition of the Jaw of primogeniture and entails and the estab- lishment of freedom in the transfer of land. He also viewed as necessary the disestablish- ment of the church in Ireland, In his attitude toward the labor problems of the time Bright was limited by the preconcep- tions of his class and by an economic creed which distrusted governmental interference in the Iahor contract. He opposed factory legis- lation for men, although he thought there was a special case for women and children, On the other hand he was a leader in general humani= tarian legislation, spoke in defense of better government of India and of religious equality and protested against the game laws, slavery and capital punishment. He was a leader in’ pro- moting parliamentary reform and political rights, for working men, partly, no doubt, because working class support was necessary for further attacks by the middle class upon the privileges of the aristocracy. In 1877 Bright proudly re- called the Reform Bill of the previous decade and reminded his audience what a terrible thing it had been in prospect—“how many people said we were going to Americanize our insti- tutions.” Jn international affairs Bright was a liberal, an opponent of war and a Little Englander. He looked to free trade, “the international law of the Almighty,” to break down the barriers between nations. He continuously opposed the forcign policy of England and once character- ized it as “neither more nor less than a gigantic system of out-door relief for the aristocracy of Great Britain.” A religious and conscientious person, a mem= ber of the Society of Friends, Bright main- tained a keen interest in all those thrifty virtues which promoted the well-being of individuals. He was a model employer and kept a children’s school, an adults’ school and a reading room for his workers, He was interested in the tem- perance movement, in a cheap press and was a great admirer of the public schools of the United States. During the American Civil War, despite the widespread middle class preference for the free trade, cotton growing South, Bright urged the importance of a Union victory for the further progress of democracy in England. Appealing to religious and moral rather than economic considerations Bright threw hii weight with the North and did much to restrain English intervention, Gustav Peck Consult: Public Addresses of John Bright, ed, by J. E-4 Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences tion of his first book, Notes on the Floridian Peninsula (Philadelphia 1855), to his death he contributed a series of writings totaling twenty- three books and more than two hundred articles. Brinton was one of the early academic figures in ‘American anthropology, bein, ‘Thorold Rogers (London 1879); ‘Trevelyan, G. M., Lafe of John Bright (2nd ed. London 1925); Robert son, William, Life and Tomes of John Bright (London 183). BRINKERHOFF, ROELIFF (1828-1911), one of the outstanding figures in social service in the United States during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. As an active politician he had swung from the Democratic party to the Republican on the slave issue and back again on free trade. In 1873 he established a savings bank, retired from his other activities and de- voted the rest of his active life to banking and to the still liter interest of social service, particularly of penology. All of his life he rade hobbies —well and thoroughly. Social. service “for the love of God and humanity,” as he was wont to express it, was his last and greatest hobby. In 1878 he was appointed to the Ohio Board of State Charities and remained a mem- her until his death. He succeeded ex-President Hayes as president of the Nationai Prison Asso- ciation and was vice president of the Intern tional Prison Congress which met in P: 18y5. General Brinkerhoff was a prolif iker for prison reform and for reformed methods of care of state wards in general. The proceedings of the National Conference of al Work and of the American Prison Asso- Giation for a period of more than twenty years are eloquent of hi rerest. His Recollections of @ Lifetime (Cincinnati 1900) tells the story of a versatile and active caiver. He was one of a hardy group of pioncers in the pre-profession: days of social work and enriched the social service of his time by wide experience, mature judgment and boundless energy. ‘Josep P. Byers and spea Consult: National Conference of Charities and Cor= rections, Proceedings, vol. xaxvint (1911) 478-79. BRINTON, DANIEL GARRISON (1837-99), American anthropologist. After preparing for the practise of medicine Brinton rendered dis- tinguished service as a surgeon in the Civil War. His interest in medicine continued and in 1874 he became editor of the Medical and Surgical Reporter, which rose under his hand to a place of leadership in medical science. In 1887, however, he retired to devote himself to anthropology. Even at the heginning of his medical career the anthropology of the New World had been a rival interest; it became the field which ulti- mately claimed his entire attention. To it he devoted years of teaching, and from the publica- “appointed. in second American university to create a chair in anthropology. He was, with Gallatin and Mor- gan, one of the founders of the cthnological study of the American Indians. In the field of linguistics he showed a remarkable ability for mastering and classifying Indian languages and displayed considerable polemic power in con- testing the theory of the Asiatic origin of Ameri can Indian civilizations. He sought to prove, on. the basis of monographic studies of peculiar morphological traits, that the American Indian languages constituted one of the great speech families of the world. His The American Race: a Linguistic Classification and Ethnographic Description of the Native Tribes of North and South America (New York 1891) was a pioneer work, But Brinton’s most important contribution lay in the ficld of religion and mythology. He diligently collected and translated aboriginal materials for the Library of Aboriginai American Literature (1882-87), which provided the native text of Indian mythology and folklore with translation and notes by the editors. Brinton himself edited most of the volumes in this scries, among them a publication of the first importance, The Maya Chronicles. In addition to this gather- ing of source materials Brinton carried through analyses and synthetic interpretations, starting with The Myths of the New World: a Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race in America (New York 1868) and ending with Religions of Primitive People (New York 1897). The postulate of the psychic unity of mankind underlies all his work in the field of comparative religion and caused him to argue for the spon- taneous origin of religious parallclisms. Brinton’s work was almost entircly based on research rather than field work, He was, how- ever, exacting in method and dynamic in treat- ment. Abroad as well as at home he was recog- nized as the leading American anthropologist of his generation. CLARK WIssLER Consult: “The 1 Meeting” American Philosophical Society, Proceedings, memo- rial vol. (1900) 210~72, which contains 1 complete Brinton Memo